This invention relates to both computer based image processing systems having an image processing computer program, and a computer readable medium having an image processing computer program, and specifically to both a computer based system having a computer program for modifying stored and displayed images, and a computer readable medium having a computer program for modifying stored and displayed images.
Computer graphics programs that allow a user to modify digital images are well known in the art. Such systems provide a plethora of image processing tools that are general purpose in nature. The problem is that when the general purpose tools are used for modifying images such as the human face and torso, they are very awkward and time consuming to use. They make it difficult for a user to make fine, detailed changes to the images; such as fine, detailed changes to the human form, such as reshaping parts of the face or torso, removing wrinkles, removing artifacts left over by other operations, and replacing a part of the anatomy with another part of the anatomy. This is because either the tools are too clumsy (e.g., if user tries to change the shape of an eye, the cheek or some other contiguous image is affected as well) or the graphical user interface is too unwieldy (i.e., too many menu selections and/or button hits are required to provide the desired effects).
Existing computer graphics programs require a user to explicitly inform the system executing the computer program, and consequently decision variables in the program, that a certain operational mode is desired. If the user is in a particular mode decides that it is necessary to momentarily execute an alternative mode, the user must command the program to go to the second mode, and when finished, the user is required to communicate via processed state changes that execution control is to return to the previous mode. For example, users often interrupt an image modification procedure in order to zoom. After zooming, the user typically needs to explicitly direct the computer graphics program by system inputs that affect state change variables to return to the previous operational mode. And when a user wants to define a region, stretch that region, and then copy that region over another part of the image and then begin defining a new region, commands are required to be given by the user to affect state change variables between each step.